The Broken Boy By the Fire
by Mariba
Summary: They fought, ignored each other, did anything until Hermione's subtle and simple gesture to sit by him by the couch. Not a word was said until those two subtle words that sent her spirling.


**Hello this is a one-shot that takes place in their make-up 7th year. **

**Enjoy, I wrote it while -laughing- i was actually roleplaying and then i was like holy-crap this would make a good fanfic...so yeah, i produced this. :) I'm very happy with it.**

**Review please :)**

** ((PS: there is no chapters after this, it's a one-shot but be sure to check out Behind the Scenes and Past the Mirrors))**

Hermione's head snapped up from her work as she saw Draco come in through the portrait. He stormed inside and with the slam of the door; she knew he was in a bad mood.

She had faced him in bad moods before. Before they had become an...item she would usually ignore him at all costs unless he fully acknowledge her. There was much angering until one or both of them would storm in their rooms and slam the door shut. They never even apologized, even though Hermione would be settle about it through murmuring and such.

She once observed him storming inside and just sitting on the couch, head in his hands, in front of the fireplace for hours. She had gone over to him and sat a good distance, afraid of being close. She would just sit there until he said something. It would usually be a sigh and a slight turn to the head, acknowledging her and saying, "What is it, Granger?" to which she would innocently respond, "Nothing, just watching the fire."

She was never stupid enough to point out if he was in pain, all he did was deny it and get even sadder. And when he did he saw the shadow in his eyes. That shadow that hid the pain inside him. He was broken, as much as she was after the war.

He was a broken boy who was forced to grow up too fast, just as she was forced to grow up. Heck, they were opposite sides of a coin. The difference was, she had loyal, true friends that were fighting for the light as his friends were stupid, and punks ready to follow whoever wanted them.

This was how she feel for him again. The thing was...when you feel for something...you don't intentionally _fall _ that would imply that you did it on purpose. When you fall for someone...it's sudden and a surprise. Some people accept it, others try and pull it off like it didn't happen.

She fell for him slowly.

Each time he came to sit in front of the fire, she would go and sit right next to him and just sit at a distance. It was like a mutual agreement between them. She would sit there till he felt better and left, and she could if she didn't ask what was wrong. It turned into a routine.

Then one day she was reading the Daily Prophet when he stormed in. She glanced up at him, just enough to see him making his way towards her. She kept her newspaper up and waited for Draco to sit by her. However, when he did this time her eyes froze on the sentence she was begging to read. She never did that before, this time she did. She swallowed and ever-so-slightly glanced beside her to find that Draco Malfoy was sitting at least one foot closer than he normally did.

She found herself unable to concentrate on her paper and was reading the same bloody sentence over and over again. There was this tension and her heart started to race.

_Get a bloody grip, Hermione Granger, he is only a…good amount closer to you than he normally is. _

He glanced at her and her heart stopped.

What was the matter with her?

Finally, he got up sighing and just as he was about to leave he said two words, "Goodnight, Granger."

Her heart soared like a bird. He disappeared from view and she whipped herself around.

_Goodnight, Granger._

Those words repeated over and over and over in her head, echoing through her mind like she was crazy. She frowned, _Goodnight, Granger? What was that supposed to mean? _

The clock was ticking next to her and she tried to return to her article but those words kept swimming and teasing her mind. She imagined him saying it to her in different ways. Him just entering a room, him behind her, him patting her shoulder, him turning to her next on the couch, him giving her a kiss on the lips and saying it against her mouth while smiling.

She slapped her newspaper down, hard, on the table in front of her.

_What is the matter with me?_

She started to pull on her hair, then decided to put it up into a messy bun. Her breathing increased and she decided to go make herself a cup of tea. Her hands were shaking.

_Goodnight, Granger. _

It was driving her insane. She wanted to go back in time just so she could say, "Goodnight, Malfoy.."

She would have said it casually, like it was the most normal thing to come out of her mouth. No feelings, just…

FEELINGS?

She put down her mug she was going to use for her tea.

"I need some sleep…" She said and returned to bed, passing his room with curious eyes.

That night, she tossed and turned just repeating those stupid two words—the first humane words of kindness he ever spoke to her. Just those two simple words….made her, Hermione Granger, actually smile into her pillow.

The next morning she woke up, going downstairs with her red boxer-shorts and a yellow tank, her hair still in a messy bun. It was when she got to the kitchen she found Malfoy had woken up to, wearing his school uniform already.

_Damn it, _she had cursed,forgetting they, as Head Boy and Head Girl were sharing a Head Common Room. She turned slightly pink in the face but turned her back to him. Suddenly something sparked in her head and she ever-so casually said, "Morning, Malfoy."

His head tilted to her direction so she could only see half his face and his silver eyes gazing at her. He then looked at what she was wearing and she swore he smiled before turning back around.

After classes, in which Hermione then found herself doodling and frantically erasing, they returned to the Head Room. She sighed and dropped her books on a table. Malfoy put his on the floor, took out a book, and began to read on the couch. Hermione slightly grinned and watched the flames flicker over his features. When he looked up, she quickly looked interested in her pile on the desk. She bit her lip and cursed herself for the billionth time that day.

_What is happening to me? _She asked herself as she massaged her temple.

"Is something wrong?"

Hermione glanced over at Dr—Malfoy who was staring at her with a blank expression though his eyes read concern.

"Why would you care?" Hermione snapped then strode over to the kitchen to make some tea. He watched her then returned to his book. However as Hermione waited for the water to boil she saw he didn't turn a page since she left. He was either a really slow reader, unlikely, or he was reading a sentence over and over.

Something was on his mind.

After she got her cup of tea, she finished the routine by sitting next to him. However, she felt like making him squirm a bit, unlike her, because she sat close to him. They were practically touching.

He froze and she smiled while she sipped on her tea.

After a few ticks from the nearby clock, he got up. The space next to her was suddenly cold without his presence. He was about to head up to his dorms when she called, "Did you finish your Potions Essay?"

He stopped and turned around, "Yeah, in Astronomy."

She chuckled, "You can't be serious."

He bit his inside cheek and it appeared he was resisting at smiling at her. "Goodnight." He said and continued up stairs.

"That doesn't answer my question, Malfoy!" She called but didn't get an answer. She smiled down at her book.

Then there was the next week when Draco stormed inside and she was playing with the fire with her magic, making shapes in the flames from the couch. Draco sat directly next to her, plopping himself down so they were arm-to-arm. She bit her lip and he just glared at the flames.

"What are you doing?" He asked, a bit harsh. It wasn't really directly towards her he was probably getting crap from people. He was getting a lot of crap from people, lately…with the whole…death-eater thing. Weird…Karma…

"Messing around, making pictures in the flames…" she said simply.

"Why?"

"Because I very well _can_, Malfoy." She snapped.

He shut up and just stared out in front of him, silver eyes flashing as the flames reflected in his irises.

Finally it slipped out of her mouth, "I know its been hard for you this year, I'm sorry."

He turned to her, face as close as it's ever been before, "You don't know anything about me, Granger."

His arched an eyebrow, "I know you are affected by words as much as anyone else is, and lately you've been hit with some nasty ones. You come into this room and sit on this couch, wondering what you did to deserve it but in the end you know it's your fault."

He blinked at her. His eyes scanned hers, wondering how…how she could actually say that. "I don't need this." He got up and went to his room.

He avoided the couch a lot the following days. He would, instead go straight to his room and remove all communication from her. That is, until the day he finally broke.

He came in and instead of making a bee-line to the couch or his room, he started to bloody knock everything over. He broke a table, smashed a glass vase, and knocked over a small bookshelf then finished it off with kicking some knick-nack into the fire. Hermione stood up, wide-eyed.

"Draco!" She called, not fully realizing she just called him by his first name.

He sat down at the couch and gripped his platinum-blonde hair in his hands. She walked over with caution towards him. She sat down next to him slowly, fully aware of the possibility of him hexing her, calling her a name, him storming out…anything. Put when he pulled her down next to him, that's what shocked her. He had his hand in hers in a death-grip and when she finally realized it wasn't for harming her she began to loosen up, realizing the problem.

There were small whimpers escaping his lips that were facing his lap.

"Shh," She soothed and rubbed his back. There was this feeling in her stomach…like a knife in her gut, every time he let out a whimper. "Shh…"

There was a long moment of silence when he finally spoke, "It wasn't my fault…"

She rubbed his back some more, "I know…I know…"

"I didn't kill him, I didn't even want to help…I did it for my family…they were gonna kill them…they were gonna kill me…" He said.

It shattered her inside to hear Draco Malfoy actually turn that vulnerable…that honest. He was a child right now, no longer a seventeen year old young man. She cuddled up on top of him, her heart telling her she had to make him feel better. He stiffened then an arm came up to hold her against him. She dropped her head on his back, letting her curls drop around him. Eventually he adjusted himself so he was sitting up and holding her. She heard the sound of his heart beat. She could smell his cologne and drank it in. As she laid there she kept thinking to herself, _This is Draco Bloody, mudblood-hating, ex-Death-eater Malfoy whose hated you forever and your hugging him like he's your boyfriend or something. _

She snapped at that last word. He stiffened and then adjusted himself away from her as she did him. They both looked awkwardly at the fire, got up simultaneously, gave each other a "No, I got up first" glare, then he marched himself upstairs while she stood their in confusion.

Of course, days went by and their routine got all…spontaneous...

Sometimes they would ignore each other; sometimes they would give a subtle greeting. Others they would fight, the others they would just sit on the couch. Sometimes they'd read together, sometimes Draco broke stuff. Sometimes they hugged each other and others they glared at each other for taking the last brew of tea. Shit happens.

That is, until that one day when Hermione found herself being the crying one…

It…it wasn't anyone's fault. It just…_happened_. The memories hit her like a train wreck against her skull and came out through her tears, just shattering the act she was trying to maintain stable. She began to weep and weep with one hand on her face and the other supporting on the back of the couch.

She heard footsteps coming down the stairs, "Granger, have you-." He stopped short.

Her heart jumped and she sniffled her cry, wanting to be strong and not have him see her like that when an image of Tonks appeared behind her eyes…then Lupin…then Fred…She wailed into her hand making blubbering noises.

Malfoy approached her like a wild animal. Slowly, yet so suddenly he brought her in her arms. He squeezed her, making her instantly wrap her arms around his torso and his on her back. "Come on…" He said and brought her to the couch.

She wept into his arms, thanking him only in her head for being this kind, for about an hour until she got a big headache. She put her hands to her head, feeling how hot that was. She ripped herself out of his arms and curled herself up in a ball, feeling her head that felt as though someone was carving 'mudblood' into her skull. She whimpered and she expected him to have a parade seeing her like this…instead…he looked beyond concerned…like it was hurting him too.

And how _dare _he?

He was her tormenter. He watched and just _stood _while the people she loved died…while she herself was being tortured…He, who was the first to call her mudblood. He, who never showed a shred of kindness for her except at the Yule Ball when he decided against ruining her life…or when…when at the World Cup when he told her to run, very rudely at that but still. Only those times…

She glared at him and felt sick to her stomach for doing so. Slowly she brought her feet to the ground and sat up. She looked at him curiously, screaming why the hell he was still there.

He bit his lip, "Are you alight?"

She wrinkled her nose in disgust, "Why do you care?"

This made his mouth agape. He moved his mouth around then stood up, "Goodnight, Granger…"

Then, a week later they were sitting side by side studying for their huge Potions test when he laughed and pointed at something on her paper, "It's i-g-n-i-s, not i-g-n-i-u-s, entirely different."

She erased it frantically, turning a bit pink at the cheeks, "Thanks," She mumbled. She looked up to see he was actually reading her paper. She slowly moved it away from him, "Excuse me, would you stop ogling my paper and work on your own?"

He looked up and it was then they found each other's faces an inch apart. "I wasn't ogling…I was observing. Looking for mistakes to point out."

"I assure you, that is the only mistake on there." She said proudly, eyes narrowing. "You however…"

"Yes..?" He moved his face ever so forward.

She parted her mouth ever so slightly and drew in a breath; her train of thought disappearing like someone put a memory charm. Her heart pounded against her chest and butterflies swarmed in her stomach like mad.

Those eyes…those beautiful silver eyes.

Before she could even comprehend her responses she grabbed his face and kissed him on the mouth. As soon as they did it was like a positive/negative immediate reaction. She traced her hands along the sides of his soft face and drew him in. His hand reached out beside them as the other was grasping on the back of the couch behind her, the other one was grabbing the air. Finally he loosened and put the other on the opposite side. He melted into the kiss, finding each other's eager lips and ready to explore. He closed his eyes and just let himself consume and be consumed. He was practically on top of her when their books fumbled to the floor in random crashes. One of her eyes snapped open and she pushed him off.

He gasped in shock as he fell backwards and she started snatching up the papers, "Hell forbid, I didn't work this hard on this paper for it to be ruined!" She said, flattening it against her stomach to rid the creases. Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy sat next to her, neck inclined so his head faced the ceiling and he was panting. He had just snogged Hermione Granger…

Pretty soon, that even became a routine. Fight, storm out, storm in, fight, snog, do homework, sit on the couch, make tea, snog, sleep, eat, cry, hug, study, snog…

It was one day he broke the kiss just an inch apart, having to pin her shoulders down so she wouldn't kiss away his words, "Are…are we a couple now or something?"

"Merlin, of course we are you thick-skulled ferret." He brought her back into the kiss, smiling as he did.

Today, however…today was very different. There was something in his eyes, she just immediately ran up to him and threw her arms around him. He hugged her back and just brought his head into her curls so his nose was touching her neck. His stupid, adorable pointed nose. She brushed his blonde hair.

"What's the matter?" She said in a low whisper.

"Nothing."

"Mmhmm," She said, rubbing his back, "Goodness, why do I even care?"

He laughed, "I've been asking you that all year." He kept his face down, a hint of a smile happening.

"I love you Draco…" She said, the words escaping her mouth like a sunny breeze.

"I love you too, Hermione…" He returned and gave her a bit of a squeeze, needing that bushy-haired girl like a life-line from the world.


End file.
